More than 60 staff members from Washington, Oregon and Alaska nonprofit children’s museums visited Bainbridge Island this past weekend to participate in discussions and presentations held by Kids Discovery Museum as part of the Northwest Association of the Youth Museums (NWAYM) Annual Conference.

“We are thrilled and honored to welcome our colleagues from across the region,” said Susie Burdick, Kids Discovery Museum’s executive director.

“The conference gives us a rare and very valuable opportunity to collaborate in person, and take advantage of professional development so that we can better serve the needs of families with young children, and support early learning in our communities,” she added.

Attendees exchanged ideas, discussed industry developments and heard from acclaimed speakers during the conference, held on Oct. 16-17.

Ari Wubbold, Oregon Early Learning Division’s Vroom coordinator, presented new technology tools that explain the science behind early brain development, and also demonstrated how to turn everyday activities into brain-building moments for children. Staff from Magnolia Behavior Therapy in Seattle highlighted museum programs for children with autism and similar sensory processing disorders.

“And especially important, in the light of recent events in Burlington, where one of the museums is located, the emergency and active shooter training presented by Bainbridge Island Fire Department Assistant Chief Luke Carpenter and Bainbridge Island Police Department’s Sergeant Trevor Ziemba, will better prepare our organizations for modern-day challenges so that we can provide safe and nurturing spaces for families in our communities,” said KiDiMu’s Krzysztofa McDonough.

NWAYM is an independent voluntary organization of 20 nonprofit children’s museums based in Alaska, Oregon and Washington.